The Women of 'Shotmakers,' Golf Channel's New Show with Topgolf

What is Shotmakers? It's a new golf series coming to Golf Channel that was shot at Topgolf Las Vegas. In Shotmakers, nine teams - each consisting of one woman and one man - compete in shotmaking games at TopGolf. And, according to Golf Channel, "Shotmakers will feature the fun, social experience for which Topgolf is known, blending entertainment, golf and technology throughout the competition."

Shotmakers will air during the month of April 2018 on Golf Channel. Episode 1 is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET on Monday, April 9; episodes will air on Mondays and Tuesdays through the end of the month, seven in all.

Following is a look at the nine women golfers who appear in Shotmakers.

Tisha Alyn Abrea

A grad of Cal State Fullerton, Tisha has played mostly on the mini-tours and posted her first professional win on the NWGA Tour in 2016. She is 24 years old, from Murrieta, Calif., and is cofounder of the social media juggernaut Women With Drive.

Susana Benavides

The 27-year-old Benavides is from Cochabamba, Bolivia, and has the distinction of being the only golfer born in Bolivia to play on the LPGA Tour.

Nikki Bondura

She goes by "NikkiB" on social media and web, and Bondura is Abrea's cofounder of Women With Drive. Her lifestyle blog is popular online.

Christina Lecuyer

You might remember Christina from her appearance on another Golf Channel series, The Big Break. Now 35 and living in Arkansas, where she went to college, Lecuyer is described as a "professional corporate/charity golf host and media personality."

Victoria Lovelady

Victoria, aka "Vica," is a Brazilian who represented her country in the 2016 Olympics. She plays on the Symetra Tour and Ladies European Tour.

Kenzie O'Connell

Kenzie is a popular presence on social media and a golf instructor in Colorado. Like several other Shotmakers cast members, she works with the Women With Drive crew.

Hailey Ostrom

After winning in college at George Fox University in Oregon, Hailey is early into her career as a pro golfer and playing on mini-tours. She's currently based in Phoenix.

Chelsea Pezzola

Chelsea, 25 years old, played golf at the University of Michigan and is now based in Arizona, where she plays mini-tours and does corporate outings and pro-ams. She also recently started getting into broadcasting.

Tania Tare

Tania, age 29, is originally from New Zealand but is now based in the USA. And she has become Internet-famous for her remarkable trick-shot abilities. She can play, too, though: She holds the school record for low round at Florida International University with a 63.

Minju Kim and the 'Golf Bowling' Video

Have you seen the "golf bowling" video that came out of Korea? A Korean LPGA golfer tees up a ball at the end of a bowling lane and then, using her driver, smacks the ball into the pins at the end of the lane. They all fall down — a strike! If you haven't seen it, here it is:

The golfer in the video is Minju Kim, who is a Class A LPGA teaching professional (with some competitive experience) in South Korea. She has at least some prominence in that country because she has a sponsorship deal with the Korean division of Fila Golf, part of the worldwide Fila Sports brand. In fact, it was Fila Golf for whom Minju Kim pulls off this trick shot. As you see near the end of the video, a Fila Golf message comes onscreen, making this video, essentially, an ad for Fila.

We take no position on the question of whether Minju actually pulled off this shot, or whether it might, instead, have been accomplished with good video editing. (Others have tried to look into that question and the best we can say is that nobody has proved it isn't real.)

But we do take a position on Minju Kim: She's definitely a golf babe!

Sharmila Nicollet Back in the Winner's Circle

She had to wait longer than she wanted (or probably expected), but India's Sharmila Nicollet is a winner again. Sharmila claimed the Hero WPGT 18 tour's second-leg tournament in Mumbai, which concluded on Jan. 25, 2018. And she did it by shooting 68 in the final round, tied for low score of the day.

Nicollet did it despite a late stumble - she bogied her final two holes in regulation. That put her finishing, 54-hole total at 214, tied with Neha Tripathi. But Sharmila then won the playoff to claim the title.

It was the first tournament victory for Nicollet since August 2016 at an event also on the Indian women's circuit. Nicollet also has victories on the Ladies Asian Golf Tour and has played several seasons on the Ladies European Tour.

Sharmila told reporters at the Mumbai tournament that her plans for 2018 include playing the LAGT, the LET, plus several coming events in Australia.

Golf Magazine's 2018 'Most Stylish' Videos

In recent years, Golf.com, the website of Golf Magazine, has done annual "Most Beautiful Women in Golf" photo spreads. In 2018, the publication did something different. It switched to the "Most Stylish People In Golf," included both men and women, and did photo spreads in the actual magazine, not just online.

Of course, we're only interested in the "Most Stylish" female golfers. This is Golf Babes, not Golf Dudes.

The five women Golf Magazine included in solo photoshoots were Michelle Wie (named Most Stylish overall), Paula Creamer, Amanda Balionis (a presented on pgatour.com), Lexi Thompson and Paige Spiranac. (Bailey Mosier Chamblee of the Golf Channel was also included as part of what Golf Magazine named the Most Stylish Couple, with husband Brandel Chamblee.)

Along with the magazine photo spreads, the publication put together behind-the-scenes videos from each of those shoots. And that's what we're presenting here. These are the five such videos for the five women featured by Golf Magazine:

Paige Spiranac in Golf Digest Japan Calendar

The Japanese edition of Golf Digest has published one, sometimes two, golf calendars annually every year going back .... well, many years. In "the old days," as they say, one of the calendars was called the "World Ladies Golf Calendar," and included shots of various women from professional golf. For many years, from about 2006 to 2013 or so, another of the Golf Digest Japan calendars focused exclusively on Paula Creamer.

These calendars were for sale only in Japan. The only way to get one outside of Japan was to watch for them on reseller sites such as eBay. But I hadn't seen any new calendars for a year or two.

But now I know that Golf Digest Japan is still doing calendars, and the past two years the calendar has featured Paige Spiranac. On the magazine's YouTube channel, there are behind-the-scenes videos of Spiranac's photo shoots for the 2017 and 2018 calendars. And we'll share those with you now.

Successful Pro Debut for Muni He

Muni He (nickname: Lily) has played on the University of Southern California golf team the past two seasons. But she's not in college anymore - at least not as a golfer. He recently turned pro, and her first tournament as a professional golfer was the Ladies European Tour's 2017 Omega Dubai Ladies Masters.

That's the same tournament where, a year ago, playing as an amateur, Muni missed the cut with rounds of 76-76. How'd she do in her pro debut? Here's the LET's tweet about it:

Muni He finished on -5 & in T28 position on her first professional tournament @OMEGAGolfDubai. A great start to tee off her golfing career @EmiratesGC ⛳️ pic.twitter.com/CR6Aahcc57

— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) December 12, 2017

A Top 30 finish in your first tournament as a pro is nothing to sneeze at. Muni earned that finish with rounds of 71-70-73 before shooting 69 in the final round.

So what's in store for He in 2018? At minimum, she'll be playing on the Symetra Tour. Muni earned her card for that tour at the final stage of LPGA Q-School. It was after securing a spot on the Symetra Tour that He decided to leave NCAA golf and go pro.

(Photos via instagram/@lilymhe)

Given her glamorous social media presence, Muni shouldn't have any trouble landing multiple sponsor exemptions to play in LPGA Tour events in 2018, too, and, if she wants them, LET tournaments or tournaments in Asia.

Muni was born in China, but grew up in San Diego, Calif. She is 20 years old.

More Muni He photos